Causing Havoc

3

When Harry and Neville got to Gryffindor tower, they noticed that Ron, Hermione and Ginny weren't there. They knew the girls could be up in the girls dorm, but Ron was definitely gone. Harry had a suspicion as to where the red head might be, but he acted innocent like normal. As they moved to the corner of the common room so Neville could begin to tell Harry more about his lessons, they heard that Ron was in the hospital wing, that he needed a calming draught.

'I wonder what was on him?' Neville asked.

'I didn't see anything. He may have imagined there was something there. It wouldn't be the first time,' Harry shrugged, 'Hey, you know what a pensieve is, right?'

'Yes, my grandmother uses one, often, it belonged to my father. She said I can start to use it when I turn fifteen.'

'Okay, I studied up on them and it says you go into the memory, but you're just a witness, you can't interact. Now if I went into a memory, could I use something in there?'

'You couldn't affect anything like trying to hex someone, it doesn't work like that.'

'What if I had a camera? Would it allow me to take a picture of something in the memory and would the picture turn out?'

'Oh, I'm not sure, I can't see why it wouldn't work. Maybe we can find a book on pensieves that will give us an answer.'

'I've got a book on them, wait here, I'll be right back,' Harry raced up the stairs to the dorm, sat on his bed but pulled the curtains. He called Dobby to bring him the book on pensieves from the room of requirement. It only took Dobby a few seconds to return, 'Great, thanks, but could you work it with the other elves to turn Draco Malfoy into a peacock?'

'Oh, that will be a good prank for former master, Master Harry. Dobby get right on that. Do you want it like the others, when he sits down in the great hall?'

'Yes, but after Malfoy, the others should happen at random times, but always when they are out in the school, not in their house rooms. I want them to be seen, as much as possible.'

'Dobby pass on your orders Master Harry, but Dobby has to say that he is having fun.'

Harry laughed, 'So am I Dobby, thanks,' Harry waited until Dobby disappeared before he left his bed and the dorm room, 'Got it,' he sat beside Neville so they could read the book together.

'This is a rare book, I doubt it's still for sale. How did you get it?'

'Oh, there's a second hand book shop just near the entrance to Knockturn alley. Even though I buy my school books new, I figured if there are older books that haven't changed then I might as well buy them second hand, especially if they were in good condition. When I found this and a few others, I realised there could be lots of books that you just can't buy anymore. It made me curious, if say, a family or the last of a family dies, what happens to their stuff?'

'It would depend on if they had a will. But if the person didn't make out a will or the people named in the will didn't want to be burdened with a lot of old stuff, they will get the goblins to work on an estate sale. The goblins get five percent of what it makes. Now some will take the stuff they were left, then decide to sell it to places like the second hand book store, or they might just do their own estate sale. There is a section in the Daily Prophet that put notices for upcoming estate sales. My Uncle Algie went to a few, I went with him once. From what I remember, it's mostly furniture, tapestries, some silverware, depending on if they had money. There are always a lot of books, but there are also old wands. Many families keep the wands of the person who died. I remember Uncle Algie said there was over a hundred wands at one sale.'

'I might have to check that out. Would the night-bus take me since I can't apparate and don't have a floo to use?'

'Yes, but if you want, you can pay the goblins for a port key to a specific place, as long as it's not prohibited or warded. You could get one to get you close to my place but you would need to walk about a mile before you would get to the house.'